Memorial - Recap

The episode begins and Damon tries to convince Stefan his plan to start Elena on only animal blood is a bad one. Stefan thinks one human kill would put her over the edge. "She can't learn to control the blood lust if she never experiences the blood lust," Damon says. Stefan takes her to the woods and traps a deer for her. She feeds and lets it go. Stefan takes Elena out into the woods to try to teach her how to be a vampire, but she's distracted by how good it feels when he touches her. They start making out ferociously but she stops suddenly and runs away, she throws up the deer blood.

A man explores the crime scene where Pastor Young blew himself and other members of the Council up. He finds a note left protected inside the oven. At the Grille, Sheriff Forbes accuses Damon of the crime, but he assures her he always takes credit for his kills. The man who inspected the scene introduces himself to Liz as Connor Jordan, a "private contractor". Jeremy and Matt unload candles for the memorial at school. They're interrupted by April Young, who Elena used to babysit for. Pastor Young was her dad; she's been away at boarding school. At the cabin with Stefan, he brings her a bottle of champagne to celebrate her first feed. Damon calls. Elena meets him at the Grille and asks if he blew up the Council.

Assured he didn't, she asks for his help feeding. He takes her to the bathroom and bites his hand open, telling her not to mention it to Stefan because "blood sharing" is kind of personal. She chomps down. Tyler and Caroline are about to engage in "grief sex" when the doorbell rings. Connor invites himself in to talk with Carol Lockwood, asking why she wasn't at the Council meeting. Tyler comes down and shakes Connor's gloved hand when he offers it. He recoils in pain. Connor promptly takes out his gun and shoots Tyler several times in the chest. Caroline races downstairs as Connor reloads. Carol screams at Tyler to run and he leaps out a window. At the Salvatore house, Stefan pulls wooden bullets out of Tyler.

The bullets have etching on them and they burn when Stefan touches them. Elena helps lay out programs at the memorial service. She's having a hard time holding back tears. She goes to talk to April. She's worried what the town thinks of her dad. Elena takes April's hand, but the throbbing in April's veins makes Elena sick. Elena runs to the bathroom and throws up blood. Stefan goes to Bonnie's house. She's still feeling guilty about her Grams. She hasn't been able to do any spells without reliving what happened. He shows her the bullets. The writing isn't magical. He tells her about the new vampire hunter in town. Elena calls Stefan for help. Connor knocks on the bathroom door and tries to get in as Elena furiously wipes up blood. Damon brings Elena a change of clothes as Connor waits outside.

Connor says he's in "environmental clean-up". Elena finishes changing and she and Damon go upstairs. Connor finds April preparing her remarks for the funeral in the church balcony. He walks up to her and stakes her in the stomach. Damon gives Elena a bag of blood but she can't keep it down either. They don't know what's wrong with her, he wonders if it's her doppelganger blood. He says she'll be fine if she just drinks from the vein, but she doesn't want to risk it. Stefan sees Damon putting the blood bag away and Damon tells him Elena hasn't been able to keep blood down for days, even his. Stefan is immediately angry and jealous. Elena goes in for the service, looking pasty and weak. Tyler is there, determined not to be afraid of the hunter.

Up in the balcony, Connor loads his rifle with April tied up on the ground next to him, bleeding. Carol Lockwood asks April to come up and speak, and when she doesn't, Elena wobbles up instead. As she starts to speak, all the vampires in the audience begin to smell April's blood dripping down from the balcony. "It's a trap, nobody move," Damon says as Connor peers through his rifle scope and waits to see who turns around. Up on the stage, Elena smells the blood and struggles to keep it together. Damon goes to get her and walks her back to the pews. The service continues. Elena has a hard time keeping it together. Damon wants to go rip Connor's head off, but Stefan quietly pleads that he'll expose them all.

Elena warns she's about to lose it, Damon's about to go, when Matt tells Elena to feed from him. She turns and sinks her head into Matt's shoulder, biting down. Connor watches through his scope but can't tell what's happening. Elena pulls back, thanking Matt. As the entire church sings, Tyler sees what's happening and interrupts on stage to talk about Pastor Young. He mentions he was his coach when he was young. Connor shoots him. Everyone runs. Up on the stage, Caroline pulls the stake Connor fired out of Tyler, who is fine. Stefan goes to help Damon with Connor.

Carol Lockwood realizes she has to call an ambulance even if Tyler is fine, the whole town just watched him get shot. Outside, Connor's in his truck when Damon rips the door off. Damon pulls him out and Connor shoots him multiple times, Damon keeps attacking, Connor get the better of him and tries to stake him, but hears Stefan coming and gets in his truck and speeds off. Stefan punches Damon for helping Elena. Back in the church, Elena finds a bleeding April in the balcony. At the sight of all her blood, Elena starts to vamp out and prepares to feed. But Caroline swoops in and stops her, explaining that she'll kill her if she does. Instead, Caroline feeds April her blood to heal her. Then she turns to Elena and tells her to help April forget.

Elena has to learn how. She tells April that everything will be ok and she'll help. She tells April she watched the service in the balcony to grieve alone. At the Grille, Connor asks Matt about the bandage on his neck. He says his girlfriend went a little overboard. Jeremy compliments Connor on his sleeve tattoo that, only Jeremy can see. Connor returns to his RV and reads the note Pastor Young left for April, saying his sacrifice was necessary and his death was the first in a war ahead. Back at the Salvatore's house, Stefan gives Elena Scotch to help with the cravings. Stefan is mad at Elena for not telling him she's struggling and for turning to Damon. She gets upset and rants about how her life is a parade of funerals and she's overwhelmed by all the grief.

Stefan assembles a make-up funeral with Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt, Elena and Caroline, saying they need to make time to grieve. Stefan lights his lantern for his uncle Zach, Alexi and Alaric. Matt lights his for Vicky. Caroline's is for her dad and Tyler's. Jeremy's is for Vicky, Anna, Jenna, Alaric and their parents. Damon bails. Bonnie lights hers for her grandmother. Elena's is for her mom, dad, Jenna and everyone that the town has lost, "and for me, I guess". They release their lanterns into the sky.

Damon drinks in the graveyard alone and mocks the idea of the lanterns and pretending that Elena isn't going to end up "like the rest of us murderous vampires". He's talking to Alaric's grave. He knows Alaric would say it makes them feel better and that's Ok. Damon says it's pointless because all that's left when someone dies is a hole in your life. Alaric sits there and listens. Damon tells him he owes him big for sticking around. "I miss you too, buddy," Alaric says as Damon walks off. The episode ends at this point.